University of Navarra Choir Concert

MUSIC FROM THE GOLDEN AGE

The Renaissance was undoubtedly a fundamental period for the development of vocal and choral music in particular. It was then that four-part vocal polyphony became widespread and has survived to this day. Between the reigns of the Catholic Monarchs and Philip III, Spanish music experienced perhaps the greatest flowering in its history, with three composers shining particularly brightly, described by the poet Bartolomé de Figueiroa around 1602 as:

"That Hispanic trio/ of Morales, Guerrero, and Victoria/ who seem in their flight/ to have learned music in heaven."

THE BAROQUE: MUSIC AND WORDS

The Baroque period spans from the birth of opera, with Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607), to the deaths of J.S. Bach (1750) and G.F. Handel (1759).  Monteverdi's Lamento della ninfa does not belong to any opera, but it contains elements typical of opera and even of Greek tragedy, which was the source of inspiration for the Camerata Fiorentina. This is particularly true of the idea of reciting while singing, from which operatic music would emerge, and the use of male voices as if they were a Greek chorus. Handel's Messiah is the pinnacle of oratorio, a composition similar to opera but without staging and with a religious theme.

BLACK SPIRITUALS… AND WHITE

Negro spirituals are religious songs performed by the African American community in the late 19th century. Many of these melodies were of European origin, brought to the New World by English, Scottish, and Irish settlers. The African American community adopted and transformed these songs, giving them an expressiveness and depth that arose from the uprooting and suffering experienced in the cotton fields. Once again, cultural fusion resulted in music that leaves no one indifferent.